Winchester disc drives are being used in computers to store increasingly large amounts of information while the cost of such storage is dropping dramatically. The typical Winchester disc drive is a system with a limited number of mechanical parts, including a spindle motor which mounts one or more discs for constant speed rotation, and an actuator carrying a transducer at one end and a voice coil motor at the other and operable in response to commands to the voice coil motor to position the transducer over a selected track to read and write data.
As one of the most expensive elements of a disc drive, as well as being one of the largest and most mechanically complex, many design efforts are intended to minimize the cost and increase the ease of assembly of the spindle motor. This particular invention is especially directed to improving spindle motor design and ease of assembly thereof, specifically in a spindle motor which incorporates a hollow shaft through which the wires to be connected to the stator are fed. It is apparent that it is essential to provide a reliable means for connecting these wires to the stator without taking additional axial space which could be used for larger stator and magnet. However, the assembly process as currently known can be complex, requiring spliced connections or the like. This could easily lead to loose wires on the stator which could result in a need to rework the motor or failure of the motor in its application. Further, the current assembly method which requires that the wires be fed through the hollow shaft and then soldered to lead wires extended from the stator is time consuming and costly. The time needed for testing the motor is also unduly lengthened.